David Sancious And Tone-Transformation (Speed Of Love) (1976)

David Sancious was one of the components of Bruce Springsteen's E Street Band, with whom he would record the albums "Greetings From Asbury Park, NJ", "The Wild, The Innocent & The E Street Band" (both from 1973) and "Born To Run" (1975), after this last work he would leave the E Street Band to form his own band Tone with which he published four albums.
In 1976 he would publish his second album "Transformation (The Speed of Love)" which, unlike his debut album "Forest Of Feelings", gave greater prominence to the sound of guitars and divided the work into four long songs focused on jazz rock with some approaches. to progressive sounds, with echoes to Weather Report, Return To Forever or the Mahavishnu Orchestra.

Survivor-Eye Of The Tiger (1982)

"Eye Of The Tiger" is the quintessence of melodic rock, the album that elevated the genre to the general public and that decades later continues to be highly appreciated by AOR fans. By the time Survivor was released it had already released two albums "Survivor" (1979) and "Pemonition" (1981), but it would be with this "Eye Of The Tiger" when they would reach the top with a round and outstanding album, in addition to the famous title track album (main theme of the millionaire movie Rocky III) stood out superb compositions such as "Feels like Love", "Hesitation Dance", "Silver Girl", "Children Of the Night" or "American Heartbeat". The duo formed by Jim Peterik and Frankie Sullivan were the authors of almost all the compositions, thus demonstrating the enormous talent of composition of both. Both the album and the single obtained a platinum disc for its sales, as well as a Grammy and took the first positions of the Billboard and UK Charts charts.

Trapeze-Medusa (1970)

Trapeze were other of the many great bands born in the late sixties and early seventies, a time that undoubtedly took place the greatest explosion of talent in rock. Hundreds and hundreds of bands that, drinking from the great blues classics, amplified their sound and took the music to levels difficult to imagine.
A few dozen groups deservedly took most of the glory. Others were not so lucky, despite the undoubted quality that they treasured, but that nevertheless left their mark and their legacy that were collected by the new generations.
One of the bands belonging to the second group was Trapeze, they never had the deserved success, although they were well recognized at the time for their direct explosives. Formed in 1969 in Staffordshire in the West of England, their first formation would only last a few months, but the second would be made up of Glenn Hughes (bass and vocals), Mel Galley (Guitars) and Dave Holland (drums). This formation would record their two best works "Trapeze" and "Medusa", both in 1970. The latter was recorded six months after the debut, and contains a repertoire loaded with songs that are in the line of hard rock blues as the initial "Black Could", or hardening their sound like heavy rock "Jury" or "Makes You Wanna Cry", instead songs like "Medusa" and "Your Love is Alright" are more focused on soul rock.
In the successive years these three musicians would go on to join three legendary bands, Hughes in Deep Purple, Mel Galley in Whitesnake and Holland in Judas Priest.

Armageddon-Armageddon (1975)

Keith Relf's career was fascinating, the founder of The Yardbirds shared memorable moments in this mythical band with Eric Clapton, Jimmy Page and Jeff Beck, three of the greatest guitarists in history, then he founded the formidable band Renaissance with whom he would do two superb works of folk, blues and music with American roots. In the mid-70s he would form together with several former members of the Steamhammer band, Martin Pugh (guitar) and Louis Cennamo (bass) the group Armageddon. Drummer Bobby Caldwell completed the line-up and thanks to Peter Frampton, Relf's friend, they got a contract with A&M Records, with whom they published the honorable album "Armageddon" in 1975.
An album where Relf leaves behind his American sound to dedicate himself fully to the primitive sounds of hard rock, based on a consistent and complex rhythmic section and supported by the work of de Pugh's guitars, with his tremendous heavy rock riffs. Weighed down by having to compete with some of the best albums published in that year and by a dirtier and less polished sound, more real and raw than some of the jewels released at that time.
Even so "Armageddon" contains great moments such as the initial "Buzzard", where Pugh shows his great ability on the six strings, or "Silver Tightrope" an excellent theme with psychedelic airs or the zeppelin "Last Stand Before".
With no time to promote the album Relf would die electrocuted playing guitar shortly after, leaving the legacy of his enormous work with The Yardbirds, Renaissance and this one from Armageddon.

Alcatrazz-"No Parole From Rock ´n´ Roll" (1983)

The main attraction of Alcatrazz was the voice of its singer and founder Graham Bonnet, who some years ago had been the vocalist of Rainbow on their album "Down to Earth", however the rest of the band was made up of great musicians such as ex-Iron Butterfly drummer Jan Uvena, ex-New England members Gary Shea, bassist and keyboardist Jimmy Waldo, and massive Swedish guitarist and ex-Steeler member Yngwie Malmsteen.
His recording debut came from the album "No Parole From Rock ´n´ Roll" (1983), in which the prominence of the aforementioned Bonnet and Malmsteen stand out, the latter already here showing his enormous credentials as an extraordinary guitarist with his vertiginous solos and their refined melodies, accompanied by an inspiring Bonnet, showing his enormous voice with fabulous performances. A traditional Hard rock album with nods to the neoclassical style and great forcefulness, very close to classic heavy metal. Tracks like "Island In The sun", "Jet To Jet" or "Hiroshima Mon Amour" sound really fantastic with a simply overwhelming and superb Malmsteen on the six strings.
From here two more albums, both without the Swedish guitarist "Disturbing The Peace" and "Dangerous Games", for the first it would be replaced by the great Steve Vai, and Danny Johnson in the second, being the album with Frank's Zappa disciple, the more acceptable of the two.

Y&T-"Earthshaker" (1981)

Y&T are a hard rock band heir to the best American rock of the 60s and 70s, with the sensitivity of the sublime melodies of British rock, who in the eighties made their three best works, starting with their great "Earthshaker" and the following "Black Tiger" and "Mean Streak".
Formed in the early 70's as Yesterday and Today by guitarist Dave Meniketti, drummer Leonard Haze, bassist Phil Kennemore, and lead vocalist and guitarist Joey Alves. After their first two albums "Yesterday and Today" (1976) and "Struck Down" (1978), the band shortened their name to Y&T under which they released their third album "Earthshaker" in 1981.
Loaded with powerful hard rock such as "Hungry For Rock", "Hurricane", "Shake it Loose" or "Knock You Out", they manage to capture the energy and power of rock in a simple but effective way. The rest of the album did not lag behind with songs like "Rescue Me" where Meniketti does an enviable guitarist job or the ballad "I Believe In You", an epic song loaded with an incredible guitar solo.
His next two albums, although with an undoubted quality, did not reach the level of this "Earthshaker", despite contagious songs such as the well-known "Don´t Wanna Lose", the great ballad "Winds of Change", heavy jewels like "Open Fire" or "Black Tiger" or great rock anthems like "Mean Streak".

Poobah-"Let Me In" (1972)

Poobah are complete strangers in Europe, but legends in the United States, where their powerful hard rock was all the rage in the 1970s. Founded in 1972 in Parkersburh, Ohio by guitarist Jim Gustafson, with the help of bassist Phil Jones, they added Glenn Wiseman to drums thus forming this power trio, all of them high school students. Within a few months, Poobah would enter the recording studios to lay the foundations for what would become one of the quintessential North American hard rock albums "Let Me In" (1972) with which a frenzy began rock´n'roll that would see its continuation with a series of great albums to this day. Fusing psychedelic elements of Cream's early days with the heaviness of Black Sabbath's distorted guitars, Poobah's debut album soon became legendary, as did Jim Gustafson's heroic guitars, and with it the band began its steady rise until reaching the status of a cult band.
An album that begins with the overwhelming "Mr. Destroyer" a theme that transports us to the first albums of Tony Iommi and Ozzy Osbourne, the psychedelic streak is in "Enjoy What You Have" with a really fascinating atmosphere, "Live To Work" and "Let Me In" are powerful hard rock and the long progressive "Make a Man Outta You" and the visceral "Upside Down Highway" show the versatility of the group.
The force of this "Let Me In" and the subsequent incendiary live shows of the band led Poobah to get to play in many concerts with bands like Canned Heat, Judas Priest, Alice Cooper, ZZ Top or Foghat.

Funkadelic-Maggot Brain (1971)

Together with Parliament, Funkadelic were the greatest exponents of the fusion between psychedelic rock, funk and soul, a fascinating synthesis that Jimi Hendrix would take to the creative peak and that musicians such as George Clinton exploited to unsuspected limits. Originally founded in 1964 by George Clinton with musicians from the Parliament band. His innovative concept was channeled through the two aforementioned bands.
While Parliament made a softer funk based on rhythm and blues and wind and string arrangements, Funkadelic practiced an experimental funk rock, with powerful guitars influenced by Jimi Hendrix with scratchy and raw sounds taken from the hard rock bands of Detroit.
"Maggot Brain" would be the title of his third and definitive album, published in 1971, an essential album in the history of psychedelic funk rock and that would decisively influence hundreds of later artists. Its star songs is precisely the one that gives the album its title, a ten-minute epic where its fantastic guitarist Eddie Hazel develops an impressive guitar solo, apparently under the effects of hallucinogens such as LSD. The rest of the album is not lagging behind and so are captivating songs like "Super Stupid", "Hit It And Quit It" or "Wars of Armageddon", this last one an amazing jam that closes this masterpiece of funk rock.

Jeff Beck, Tim Bogert & Carmine Appice-Beck, Bogert & Appice (1973)

In 1973 Jeff Beck ended his adventure with the Jeff Beck Group and decided to form a power trio calling Carmine Appice and Tim Bogert, one of the best rhythmic sections of the time, and they recorded the honorable album "Beck, Bogert & Appice", a magnificent album that was criticized by some for its "minor" production and also for not having included a good vocalist. Certainly this album with Rod Stewart or even with Bobby Tench is possible that it would have won many more integers.
In any case, this album was the confirmation of the quality of the three magnificent musicians in an album that nevertheless exudes an undoubted quality, both in terms of composition and instrumental. Tracks like the blues rock "Black Cat Moan", the powerful "Lady", the forceful rock "Why Should I Care About You Now" or the funk rock "Lose Myself With You" and "Superstition" make the quality of the album clear. However, for those who questioned the vocal part of the band there are "Oh To Love You", "Sweet Sweet Surrender" or the magnificent "I'm So Proud" where the vocal lines are high.

Rush-Counterparts (1993)

"Counterparts" was released in October 1993 and produced by the band's own musicians. It corresponds to the last active stage of the band before its first and only separation. Lyrically the album follows the line of the band but musically, "Counterparts" is an unconventional Rush album, so much so that you can hear similarities and nuances of hard rock that make it very attractive; although many of the previously used additional elements, varied percussion and synthesizers are still appreciated.
With a much more basic, simpler, more raw sound, almost all songs have a guitar background and synthesizers and keyboards practically disappear. A more basic scheme for guitar, bass and drums. This is clear from the first three songs on the album, "Animate me", "Stick it out" and "Cut to the chase".
Likewise, the lyrics on this album become more generic and abstract. But precisely "Nobody's hero" is an exception both in this aspect, even the lyrics sparked some controversy due to its references to homosexuality and AIDS, as well as in the musical aspect, introducing more arrangements and the acoustic guitar.
It continues with two of the most interesting songs on the album such as "Between sun & moon" and "Alien shore". Following the line opened on the previous album, they insist on that new way which are love songs with "The speed of love" and "Cold fire", although always looking for an approach towards the style of the band and far removed from the typical cliches.
They also return to include an instrumental song with the curious title "Leave that thing alone", the album closes with the bright and optimistic "Everyday glory".
It has the special participation of Michael Kamen and like every Rush album, it is a work of art.

Ozric Tentacles-The Yumyum Tree (2009)

In the mid-1980s, Ozric Tentacles, in Somerset, a county in the south-west of England, founded Ozric Tentacles, a group of young people related to progressive music and electronic rock. In the beginning they were regulars at the Glastonbury Festival where they sold their songs on cassettes.
It would not be until 1989 when they released their first album "Pungent Effulgent" under the independent label Dovetail Records and distributed by Snapper Music.
The music of Ozric Tentacles is a versatile amalgamation of psychedelic and spatial instrumental rock, influenced by the progressive rock of bands like Gong, Pink Floyd and the krautrock of the early 70s.
His first album was followed by a series of works all focused on the same difercion, among which "Erpland" (1990), "Jurassic Shift" (1993) or "The Hidden Step" (2000) stand out. In 2009, "The Yumyum Tree" would arrive, their twelfth album, which contains a suggestive experimental mix with oriental elements, electronic rhythms, funk, ethereal landscapes, acidic and hypnotic guitars and powerful bass lines, with an impressive array of instruments, all this conveniently framed in a successful balance of relaxation, frenzy and intensity.
A band that produces such fascinating and seductive music that they have attracted hundreds of thousands of followers around the world.

Steve Miller Band-Fly Like An Eagle (1976)

Steve Miller is one of those musicians whose passion for blues and rock made him one of the best artisans of the style, with a charisma and a power to create great songs, a maker of hits, but never a leading man, despite the large number of gold and platinum records he has achieved throughout his career.
Born in Dallas in 1943 at the age of twelve, he was impressed by the revolution that Elvis Presley's rock signified, and with a classmate he would form his first band, that companion would later become a shining star: Boz Scaggs.
After several more bands, all influenced by soul and rock, Miller moved to Chicago, where he played a lot of blues, forming the band The Goldberg Miller Band with Barry Goldberg.
There he would also record his first albums, but they did not obtain desired success. Some time later he would move to California where he would form his definitive band The Steve Miller Band. After playing gigs for quite some time, they recorded various soundtracks for documentaries and even opened for Chuck Berry.
In 1968 the first two albums of the band "Children of the Future" and "Sailor" appeared, works still quite immature and rough, but which envision a promising future.
During the period from 1969 to 1973 they recorded five more albums, all of them with different formations, until in 1974 they finally achieved success with the album "The Joker", which became number one on the charts in America and received many accolades and accolades.
"The Joker" is a perfect rock compendium, without excessive implications in its contents. Two years would last the hangover of this successful album, which would be followed by the superb "Fly Like an Eagle", with which it would get four platinum records.
Unlike the blues-based sounds of his previous works, for this new album Steve Miller reinvents himself with a melodic rock style, with very subtle approaches to hard rock. With the initial and atmospheric "Space Intro" this album was Steve Miller's best commercial option to date, thanks to songs like "Fly Like An Eagle" one of the iconic songs of the seventies, the enchanting "Serenade", the tremendously Addictive "Rock 'n' Free" or "Take The Money and Run" which was one of the hits of the album.

Tir Na nÓg-Tir Na nÓg (1971)

In a mysterious and delicate way with their musical style in 1971 a duo called Tir Na nÓg appeared. Their sound was a wise mixture of oriental exoticism, subtle pop cadence, Hindu mysticism, with a great lyricism with classical reminiscences, they were one of the most important contributions in a year in which intimate music dominated much of the public's tastes, people like Carole King, James Taylor, CSN&Y, Cat Stevens and many others.
Tir Na nÓg was the colorist note, they did not achieve any # 1, they did not manage to sell a million dollars in records to get a gold record, they were not headlining at any festival and they did not even get on the charts ... however Any enthusiast, critics themselves, and even many famous contemporary artists cited Tir Na Nog as the best of that year.
Their first album, honorably titled as the group, was the key to everything. A single album raised them to the top of quality, of the most precious expression that music had ever given.
There were thirteen songs composed indistinctly by the two members of this duo, two young boys, simple, poets and good musicians. They were Sonny Condell on guitar, tabla, Moroccan drums and harp and Leo O'Kelly on guitar, bass and other instruments.
Later in 1972 "A Tear And A Smile" would be published, a new sample of mystical expressionism as well as the following "Strong In The Sun" (1973), all of them unanimously acclaimed by the critics of the time, even nominated for the best group of folk of those years, which however did not have the desired commercial impact, partly due to the large number of bands and artists of enormous quality who constantly published, something that obviously weighed down bands with less specific weight, and above all to little or no publicity shown by their record companies, more concerned with established artists.

The Electric Prunes-"Underground" (1967)

In the field of experimentation, Electric Prunes played a decisive trump card in the second half of the 1960s. Their albums full of spirited sound intensity, were probably one of the preludes to the underground or progressive, opening new sound lines to the groups that later gave the definitive rise to the avant-garde.
They left behind an interesting and ambitious collection of great albums worthy of study, "The Electric Prunes", their first album was the basis for "Underground", their second LP, which already showed in their name which were the musical paths of the group.
In this "Underground" the growing psychedelic and experimental vision of the group was observed, despite everything it would go unnoticed by the general public.
"Mass In F Minor" his third work is even more experimental, a concept album closer to a rock mass than to a conventional rock album, which to make it even more complicated was sung in Latin. This unpublished and unusual work ends with the disintegration of the band.
However, in 1968 the album "Release Of An Oath" would be published, following the tone of the previous one, it does not have much commercial impact, but curiously it was immortalized in the famous movie "Easy Rider" thanks to the theme "Kyrie Eleison".
"Just Old Good Rock and Roll" was the epitaph of Electric Prunes, which despite returning to the sounds of its origins was yet another complete commercial disaster.
Years later the band would meet again for some concerts and various compilations and live recordings of their era of splendor were published, such as the magnificent "Stockholm 67" recorded in 1967 during a European tour, published more than 30 years later, in a historical recording considered one of the best live shows of the psychedelic era.

Henry Cow-"Legend" (1973)

Henry Cow is one of the most politicized groups in the history of progressive rock, its journey would begin in 1968, a year of great student unrest. Founded by two students from the University of Cambridge; Fred Frith and Tim Hodgkinson, their beginnings were an experience as an experimental duo, whose style was defined as "Neo-Hiroshima". At the end of 1968 they expanded the band with several more members, forming what would be the first nucleus of Henry Cow.
But this first line-up was unstable and quite changeable, in a relatively short time after different remodels and after recording a demo that was awarded by John Peel's program "Top Gear" on British state radio, Henry Cow's line-up was reduced and was consolidated in the figures of Fred Frith (guitar, violin, piano and voice), John Greaves (bass, piano and voice), Tim Hodgkinson (keyboards) and Chris Cutler (drums, piano and voice).
In 1973 they made their record debut with the album "Legend", with which they obtained enormous favorable critics and the fervor of the public, an audience that had been following them during the appearances in the political campaigns that had preceded the publication of the album.
That same year Henry Cow reinforced his fame with a notable number of concerts, in addition to a tour with the German group Faust and a memorable concert at the "Greasy Truckers Party Festival" offered in London, from which themes were taken for the double album in direct "Greasy Truckers Live at Dingwall's Dance Hall" (1973).
In Henry Cow's music it was easy to glimpse the influence of Frank Zappa and the subversive Faust, as well as classical composers of the caliber of Stransvinsky and Varese. Henry Cow had managed to gather all these suggestive elements, filtering them with taste and a totally personal criterion improvisation was one of the central points of his music, especially live, according to the tradition of the best "freebands", but with perfectly studied movements, paradoxically the music of Henry Cow was much more organized on a structural level than any other band rock of the time.

Bad Company-"Straight Shooter" (1975)

After its first and effective as well as successful first Bad Company album, fans feared that they would drift towards new sonic adventures, so when "Straight Shooter" was released, everyone breathed a sigh of relief observing that Paul Rodgers and company were removed from the sleeve another superb piece of great rock.
Following the same line as its predecessor, here the intense sound is consolidated with that flavor of old-style rock, songs that are very well built and effective, powerful riffs with a bluesy flavor and very solid rhythms.
Tracks like the hard rock "Good Lovin´ Gone Bad" and "Deal With The Preacher" are the counterpoint to the outstanding mid-times "Feel Like Makin' Love" or "Shooting Star" itself, which would once again boost them to the top positions on the British and North American charts and going triple platinum for its sales.

Little Feat-"Sailin´ Shoes" (1972)

Originally from Burbank in California, Little Feat have been one of the greatest North American rock bands in the seventies for their technique, inventiveness, vitality, inspiration and sonority. Its secret lay in the bizarre surrealism, sometimes torn, of its lyrics, ironic and with a taste for nonsensical nonsense, and in its sound, a particular synthesis.
Led by Lowell George, a character of great charisma who began his career in Los Angeles playing for various groups, including the Standells and Factory, and later became part of Frank Zappa's Mothers of Invention.
After leaving Frank Zappa's band and together with the bassist of the same band, Roy Estrada would found Little Feat, in addition to the drummer Richard Hayward and the pianist Bill Payne.
The group would perform for some time in Los Angeles and Houston, quickly attracting public attention, in part thanks to Lowell George's great reputation.
Little Feat's music is dense and careful, an original synthesis of blues, boogie, country, gospel, rhythm and blues from New Orleans and Memphis and echoes of Californian rock.
His definitive consecration would come with his second album "Sailin´Shoes", a superb album that contains the anguished "Trouble", the boogie-country "Tripe Face Boogie", the country blues "A Apocalitical Blues" and "Willin´" a song classic folk of the group. This album enthusiastically praised by the specialized press and especially by Rolling Stone magazine, has the collaboration of the graphic studio Neon Park, which would illustrate all its covers with an extravagant pop imagination.

Ian Dury-"New Boots And Panties!!" (1977)

Ian Dury was a flamboyant character, raised during the first half of the 70s in London pus and later become one of the leading figures of the new bird, he has always been considered the perfect antithesis of the polio-looking rock star. not very reassuring and surrounded by unattractive collaborators.
Already in the early years of the decade with almost thirty years, he had formed his first band Kilburn and The High Roads, with which he became very popular on the London underworld circuit and its pubs. The trusted partner at the time for songwriting was the pianist Russel Hardy, who left the band just after the album "Handsome" released in 1974.
In 1975 the band disbanded following Ian giving concerts under the name of Ian Dury and The Kilburns, replacing Hardy with keyboardist Chaz Jankel. With the latter Ian had begun to prepare the expected return with a new album.
The album entitled "New Boots and Panties" would come out at the end of 1977, with little promotion by his record label Stiff Records, which, however, was no objection to selling a whopping more than 400 thousand copies, a true and unusual record for an album recorded in a week and with little commercial promotion.
Nicknamed from here as "The Godfather of punk" Ian Dury had little to do with punk philosophy, except for his disastrous clothing, but his absolutely positive message was the antithesis of any form of nihilism.
This and the next album, the also successful "Do It Yourself" contained an attractive and exciting jazz-funk style with irresistible arrangements where the songs "Sex and Drugs and rock'n'roll", "What a taste", stood out. "Hit me With Your Rhythm Stick" or "Reasons to be Cheeful part 3".

The Tubes-"The Tubes" (1975)

The Tubes' debut with A&M Records dates back to 1975 and was produced by none other than former Blues Project Al Kooper. The disc endowed with a suggestive cover, with a woman's hand that tears the cover itself revealing its content, contained a pleasant desecration of certain love songs such as "Boy Crazy", a funny denunciation of widespread sadomasochistic customs, "Mondo Bondage" and also included what would become the anthem and symbol of The Tubes, the hypercorrosive "White punks on dope", a true satire of the boring life of the young American from a good family.
In this first album there was already a pale idea of ​​what The Tubes were capable of doing, however not even a special prize awarded by the specialized press for their cover did them justice.
Officially born in 1975, their members came from different bands and all of them had a university culture and a "cultured" and ironically profane approach to the world of show-business, although this made them one of the greatest live bands of all times, but it would also undermine its commercial potential in America.
Album after album none was able to reproduce the enormous visual impact of The Tubes in concert. Indeed it was a stage where the band had its true altar of sacrifices, there they immolated the essence of rock'n'roll to transform it into an enormous visual experience never seen before.
They took influences from Frank Zappa and his Mothers of Invention, Alice Cooper or The New York Dolls, but the dimensions of The Tubes were not even remotely similar to these, the spectacular dimension of their shows dwarfed all the previous ones in an overwhelming way, with some crazy shows that scandalized the press and the wealthiest sectors of society.
The Tubes were too corrosive a band for puritan America and old England, but not so for the rest of Europe.
Even so, they continued to publish good albums and tour continuously, filling theaters and stadiums with the same ease that they were criticized.

Bruce Cockburn-"Sunwheel Dance" (1972)

Unlike Joni Mitchell and Neil Young, two Canadians who crossed the border with the United States to become famous, Bruce Cockburn became a star by remaining in his homeland, benefited by a Canadian law that established that 39% of all music transmitted on the radio it must be Canadian music.
Thus, their songs that fascinated the public both for their lyrics and their music could be disseminated, in a clear step forward from the folk rock of the late sixties.
With a quite heterogeneous style where jazz, rock, touches of reggae and what was called new age music in the nineties, Cockburn defined a unique style.
After some good works that had begun to be published in 1970, the true physiognomy of the artist would arrive when his album "Sunwheel Dance" came to light, a work where he achieves the perfect balance between acoustic music and electric rock.
His later career has been quite prolific, publishing around thirty albums of which 22 have been gold or platinum records in Canada.

Montrose-Warner Bros. Presents (1975)

Montrose's third album was weighed down in part by their huge debut album released two years earlier and also by losing their vocalist Sammy Hagar who had left them to pursue his solo career.
With a new vocalist, Bob James and the inclusion of a keyboardist Jim Alcivar, "Warner Bros Presents" is another essential album by the American band, which far from the visceral hard rock of their previous works and partly thanks to the addition of keyboards and to the different tone of voice of their singer, they evolve towards more commercial themes but without leaving behind the innate characteristic of the impressive riffs of Ronnie Montrose as shown in songs like "Matriarch", "Dancin´Feet" or "Black Train", in change "All I Need", "O Lucky Man" or "Clown Woman" are the perfect counterpoint with that touch of commerciality bringing them closer to a sound less hard rock and more blues.

Van Morrison-"The Healing Game" (1997)

During the nineties Van Morrison published a series of great and very productive albums that, without reaching the level of his masterpieces, were very worthy of the Belfast Lion.
"The Healing Games" is one of the most brilliant, a collection of ten songs that seem perfect for execution, which move between blues, soul and subtle touches of jazz with an outstanding instrumentation, highlighting the saxophones of Leo Green and by Pee Wee Ellis, plus veteran Georgie Fame's always elegant Hammond sound.
An album that contains powerful songs like "Rough God Goes Riding", intense like "Sometimes We Cry" or "The Healing Game", doo-wop sounds "If You Love Me" or addictive pieces like "Fire In The Belly", all them with the characteristic and unmistakable stamp of one of the best voices of all time.

Flash-"In The Can" (1972)

Peter Banks had been invited to leave Yes in the early 1970s, his position would be occupied by Steve Howe, meanwhile Banks, far from being submerged in unrest, would found his first band called Flash, with which he would publish three great progressive-cut albums.
"In The Can" was the second published in 1972 and the first in which he no longer had his former Yes partner, Tony Kaye, but in return he consolidated his new line-up with Colin Carter on vocals, bassist Ray Bennett and drums Michael Hought, who would repeat in the next "Out Of Our Hands" (1973).
In this album the band delves into their musical proposal based on a progressive rock with a pronounced melodic and rhythmic base.
The extensive "Lifetime" of more than ten minutes is a guitar exercise by Banks himself and a variety of rhythms that the group displays superbly. The same goes for "Black and White" another long and exquisite piece of great progressive rock.

Man-"2 Ozs Of Plastic With a Hole in the Meddle" (1969)

Man are one of the cult bands par excellence, these Welsh went into the annals of rock for the demonized guitar jams halfway between Grateful Dead and The Allman Brothers but with a progressive style, very close to kratutrock with many psychedelic touches.
In their first album "Revelation" their style was still somewhat immature although the extensive crossovers of solo guitars that would make them famous over the years were already predicted and they moved between the psychedelic of the time and the emerging German rock.
"2 Ozs Of Plastic with a hole in the Meddle" (1969) would be the next work where there is much more compositional ambition and it enters fully into the progressive without leaving behind the prevailing psychedelic, very present in the initial suite "A Prelude / The Storm ", while "It Is As It Must Be" shows typical krautrock experimentations, "Brother Arnold's Red and White Striped Tent" instead is an approach to the British progressive jazz of the late sixties.
An album with a lysergic sound very typical of the psychedelic era that put them on the world rock scene.

Love Sculpture-Blues Helping (1968)

One of the most unknown British blues bands of the late 60s, but not for that reason they did not treasure a very high quality were Love Sculpture, the band led by a young Dave Edmunds, who together with bassist John Williams and drummer Bob Jones completed this great trio.
Founded in 1966 in the city of Cardiff, they released two albums before finally dissolving in 1970.
"Blues Helping" is the title of his debut, which is also his best work, that without reaching the quality of contemporary bands such as John Mayall's Heartbreakers, Savoy Brown or Peter Green's Fleetwood Mac, if they were in a wave very similar blues.
In this first album the band performs a complete review of versions of blues classics such as "On The Road Again" by the Canned Heat, "Shake Your Hips" by Slim Harpo, "Wang-Dang-Doodle" by Willie Dixon or "The Stumble" from Freddy King.

Various Artists-"Fill Your Head With Rock" (1970)

"Fill Your Head With Rock" was a successful double compilation that the North American label Columbia Records published in 1970 and which included some of the label's best-known artists at that time.
With an iconic cover featuring Gerry Goodman of The Flock with his characteristic violin and flowing hair, the album was a huge success worldwide, selling more than a million copies.
At the time, this superb compilation would compete with another famous one published by the progressive label Islands Records, entitled "Bumpers", with the difference that it only showed British artists, while Columbia had artists from both countries.
This compilation was a faithful representation of the most creative singer-songwriters of the time: Tim Hardin, Tom Rush, Laura Nyro, Tim Rose, Tim Buckley, Leonard Cohen, Bob Dylan or Al Stewart, among others; part of them appear in this selection.
It also contained a good representation of jazz rock with Al Kooper, Chicago or Blood Sweat & Tears, a selection of groups and progressive artists such as Santana, Steamhammer, Black Widow, Spirit, Argent, Skin Alley or Moondog and another of blues artists such as Pacific Gas & Electric, Janis Joplin, Johnny Winter or Mike Bloomfield.

Fleetwood Mac-"Mirage" (1982)

"Mirage" had the great handicap of being just behind the superb "Rumors" and "Tusk", so it had a more moderate success than these.
However, it would reach number one on the Billboard charts and a fifth position on the British charts with more than three million copies sold worldwide.
"Mirage" in a sense continued the path of "Tusk" with some fantastic melodic songs, with the characteristic rhythm of the band, demonstrated in an arsenal of great compositions like "Gypsy", "Hold Me", "Love in Store" that were the three singles from this album.
The rest was equally of considerable freshness and harmonic richness, like the beautiful ballad "Only Over You", the rhythmic "Can´t Go Back" or "Oh Diane" a brilliant song composed by Lindsay Buckingham.
All this makes up a homogeneous album, keeping the band's bar very high after the two aforementioned masterpieces.

Colosseum II-"Wardance" (1977)

In 1975 the drummer Jon Hiseman re-floated his band Colosseum, with which he had recorded five albums in the period from 1969 to 1971, renaming it Colosseum II, but this time diverting the sound towards much more jazz rock to the detriment of rock progressive of the first stage of the group.
For this new project Hiseman recruits Gary Moore, Don Airey, Neil Murray, Mike Sarrs and John Mole with whom he recorded and published "Strange New Flesh" in mid-1976, a very intense, energetic and somewhat complex album that are still within the parameters of the progressive.
This will be followed a year later by "Electric Savage" with a similar line to the previous one and at the end of that same year "Wardance", the last work of the group and the one considered best in this second stage, and where the band shows a fully exercised jazz-progressive, with an evolution in the line of the previous work but with the developments and the more accentuated elaboration.
The epic "Wardance" kicks off this record in an energetic way, while "The Inquisition" is an example of Colosseum's jazz rock might, the ambitious "Star Maiden / Mysterioso / Quasar" becomes the theme song compositionally speaking, "Major Keys" is a very addictive funk song for its melody and Gary Moore's guitar play and the blues label "Fighting Talk" with that lilting rhythm defines the enormous eclecticism of this formidable band.

Gary Wright-"The Dream Weaver" (1975)

Gary Wright was a former member of a damn British band such as Spooky Tooth, a group with very bad luck but of enormous quality and with constant line-up changes, something that would prevent them from massive success.
After leaving the band Wright emigrated to the United States to try his luck, his first solo album was published in 1970, entitled "Extraction", which will be followed by "Footprint" (1971) and "Ring of Changes" (1972), but all They went completely unnoticed and in view of their failure, he would not publish anything else until 1975.
During all this time he would participate in recordings of other artists such as Jerry Lee Lewis, BB King, Ringo Starr or George Harrison.
That year of 1975 he would publish the great album "The Dream Weaver" with which he would finally achieve success, reaching a gold record and a top ten on the Billboard, demonstrating the great singer and fantastic keyboard player that he always was.
An album with a rather eclectic style, but where Wright's great voice and his great work on the keyboards stand out and where guitarist Ronnie Montrose or David Foster collaborate on the additional keyboards.
Later his "Love is Alive" would climb to number 2 on the charts to obtain other minor hits in the following years.

Uriah Heep-"The Magician´s Birthday" (1972)

Following the line started in "Demons and Wizards" that same year of 1972, Uriah Heep published "The Magician's Birthday", barely 7 months apart and in which Roger Dean was once again in charge of the design of the cover album.
If in the previous work the band had conscientiously worked its sound, taking it to progressive levels, but without taking away an iota of commerciality, here the sounds are even more dense and dramatic, with a less heavy and complex style, placing great emphasis on the facet commercial.
However, none of this detracts from their unmistakable sound while preserving the hallmarks of Uriah Heep that remain unchanged, the beautiful harmonies of "Rain" and "Blind Eye", contrast with powerful rock such as "Sweet Lorraine" the rhythmic "Spider Woman", the emotional "Tales", the anthological "Sunrise" or the progressive "The Magician's Birthday", which make up a masterful album worthy successor to that masterpiece that is "Demons and Wizards".

The Doors-"The Doors" (1967)

Between 1967 and 1971 The Doors polarized world attention on their music and their enormous sound and the great vitality of the group.
In all this, his charismatic singer Jim Morrison shone above all, a youthful symbol whose lyrical, emotional capacity and his attractive physique made him the frontman and sex symbol par excellence in a time when Elvis Presley had lost that condition due to his excesses.
Jim Morrison gave absolutely everything on stage, pouring himself into every song, reaching the top of every note but he also went out of line on many occasions.
The consequences of his constant ravings were his arrests for impropriety in the scene, however the real reason for his "not very decorous" performances was the enormous trance that the music awoke on stage.
Musically the influence of the first album entitled "The Doors" was based on R&B, jazz and rock with psychedelic touches, "Break On Through" is a clear example of the mixture of revolutionary poems and psychedelia, while the hypnotic "Soul Kitchen "demonstrates the subtle changes in the group's musical dynamics.
But it is the extensive "Light My Fire", a hymn to sexuality in a jazz key and in "The End" an apocalyptic and epic theme that elevate The Doors and elevate them to the podium of the great groups of the 60s, thus beginning to theatricality in rock.

Jethro Tull-"Aqualung" (1971)

"Aqualung" was Jethro Tull's fourth album, released in 1971, chronologically located between "Benefit" and "Thick as a brick". The LP is divided into two sides, the A titled "Aqualung" and the B, "My God". The first deals with the world of begging while the second talks about various issues concerning the god-man relationship (you can read on the inside of the vinyl: "In the beginning, Man created God ...", as well as the hypocrisy of the church.
This album is considered, lettristically speaking, a top album by Jethro Tull, as well as one of his best works from a musical point of view. It is considered by many fans of the band the best album of the Tulls, although due to the number of great albums they published in a row, it may be an injustice to call it that. What you can assure without any doubt is that we are facing one of their works that left its mark, an album that marked a milestone in the history of the band and, without a doubt, of rock, with a great influence on many of rear discs.
Among his songs is "Locomotive Breath" one of the best known songs by Jethro Tull. The song begins with a beautiful, jazzy piano, joined by the electric guitar, until the very rhythmic first verse arrives. This song has another outstanding flute solo standout, energetic, almost frenetic, in which Anderson once again shows his mastery on the flute. The lyrics tell of the life of a man who falls apart and he heads to death, like a locomotive, without brakes. Besides "Locomotive Breath", the fantastic "Cross-Eyed Mary", "My God", "Aqualung" and "Wind Up" stand out, which make up a masterful album.

Hatfield and the North-Hatfield and the North (1973

Formed in late 1972, Hatfield and the North were framed in the Canterbury Sound scene, of which it was one of the most recognized and influential landmarks.
Formed by former Matching Mole guitarist Phil Miller, former Gong drummer Pip Pyle, bassist and singer Richard Sinclair from Caravan and Dave Stewart former member of bands such as Egg and Khan on keyboards.
Although they only published the eponymous "Hatfield and the North" and the later "The Rotter's Club", it is logical that their style has been determined by the most outstanding of the genre, along with its jazz elements, the sense of humor inherited from Frank Zappa, and the progressive character of Gentle Giant, their first album is one of the most formidable exercises of the Canterbury movement, where the whole band is at an excellent level but with the outstanding and prodigious appearances of Miller on guitars and Stewart on keyboards, turning this album into an exquisite journey through progressive jazz.

The Rascals-"Time Peace: The Rascals' Greatest Hits" (1968)

First as The Young Rascals and then simply as Rascals, this band was during the period between 1966 and 1968 one of the favorites of young Americans, which would take them one after another to all their albums to No. 1 in the American ranking.
Formed in 1965 by their leader Felix Cavaliere as organist, Gene Cornish as guitarist, Eddie Brigati on drums and Ding Danelli on drums.
With their second single "Good Lovin´" (1966) they obtain very important figures in sales, far exceeding one million copies worldwide.
After this came a series of great singles such as "Come On Up" or "Too Many Fish in the Sea", until in 1967 they jumped to world number one with a song titled "Groovin", which delights the whole world.
After this great impact, they reduced their name and began a long six of hits based on half black music based on rhythm and blues, with enough personality to make them different due to their innovation.
Already in 68 they get several gold records again thanks to "Beautiful Morning" and "People Got to Be Free", by then the “boom” elevates them to world fame.
In all this development, its leader Cavaliere, its main composer, has a lot to do with it his musical ideas are going to be those that between 1969 and 1971 sustain the group, but which nevertheless gradually dismembers until only Cavaliere himself and Danelli.
Later both would give shape to their most ambitious project, a double album entitled "Peaceful World", which is nothing more than a long suite divided into several parts, with a deep musical richness, which once again confirms the privileged and solid musical culture of Cavaliere, one of the best musicians of the sixties who contributed unforgettable works of great compositional beauty.

The Strawberry Alarm Clock-"Incense and Peppermints" (1967)

Strawberry Alarm Clock is one of the many bands that with a single album in the rankings went down in history, however they did not have continuity beyond a series of interesting albums and several high positions on the Billboard charts.
With their first album they managed to boost a meteoric career, selling a million copies and positioning themselves to number one, which would then be precisely that immediate success, enough ballast to drag them until their dissolution several years later.
"Incense and Peppermints" stood out for its pop rock with psychedelic overtones without too much complexity, and it contained, in addition to the single of the same name as the album, the extensive psychedelic "The Word's On Fire" or the instrumental with jazzy airs "Unwind With The Clock".

Ginger Baker's Air Force-"Ginger Baker's Air Force" (1970)

After the dissolution of Blind Faith, Ginger Baker would create her Air Force, or what is the same, what I try to create; a rock school.
Ginger Baker's rock school started almost occasionally on the occasion of a concert for which several renowned musicians gathered, in addition to Baker, Steve Winwood, Rick Grech, Denny Laine, Harold McNair, Graham Bond, Chris Wood among others.
However, what was to be just a performance turned into something more. All of them were delighted with what they had achieved, with that great super band sound.
It was then that Baker thought about shaping his rock school, and held the reins in that phenomenal band whose only pattern was that anyone could come and go in it.
Obviously the idea came from a genius such as John Mayall and his Heartbreakers long ago, but Baker did not have the musical training or temperament to be a solid leader, especially due to his sour character.
The first LP was a double album that turned out to be a genius. The formation of that unusual album was Baker on drums, Steve Winwood on vocals and organ, Janette Jacobs on vocals, Danny Laine on guitar, Chris Wood on tenor sax, Rick Grech on violin, Remi Kabaka on second drums, Graham Bond on alto sax, Harold McNair on flute and Phil Seamen on percussion.
An incredible formation that would achieve an indecipherable climax, especially with the contribution of two drums that came to make a dialogue of enormous tension and power.
But soon Winwood and Wood leave to resurrect Traffic again, along with Jim Capaldi, Laine would do the same to join Paul McCartney's Wings and little by little the rest of the band.
Shortly after a second album would arrive but without the expectation or freshness of that first work.
Finally, the Air Force would disappear for lack of volunteers, but not before having left its pass printed on the musical face with a masterful album.

The Butterfield Blues Band-"The Resurrection of Pigboy Crabshaw" (1967)

Paul Butterfield was to the United States in the 1960s, what John Mayall was to England; the greatest exponent of the white blues, under whose premise he would develop an intense work that enshrined him both in the media and among the public internationally.
Popularly however Butterfield has never had the fame of Mayall. Their quality was almost the same, but their works were quite different, while John Mayall always practiced a very free blues with a great base in research and avant-garde, Butterfield was eminently a traditional musician, who used the classic methods of blues and music i perfect without wanting to go much further.
Undoubtedly he was a total purist, and this took away the possibilities for the public that Mayall would reach after many years of struggle, when his revolutionary ideas were accepted and used by a great majority of musicians of his time.
However, even in his traditionalism, Paul always knew how to surround himself with the best musicians that he had within his reach, his various bands, as would happen with Mayall, had names of great stature, discovered by him or already consecrated, names that will later write pages of gold in the history of music.
From 1959 Paul was making contacts with the great Chicago bluesmen, who will define his style for him, they were names like Jimmy Cotten, Junior Wells, or Sonny Boy Williamson.
By the mid-sixties Paul Butterfield was already an established teacher, a magnificent singer and a harmonicist who mastered the instrument like no one else.
Since then he would work intensively making anthological albums for the history of the white blues.
Along with him musicians such as Mike Bloomfield, Al Kooper or Elvin Bishop developed, considered as great figures of the genre and later successful careers.
Its quality and purity would lead him to make legendary albums like "Firts", "East West" or "The Resurrection Of Pigboy Crabshaw", basic pillars of the history of the blues.

Ozzy Osbourne-"Speak Of The Devil" (1982)

Popular culture has it that this stunt double was published in response to Black Sabbath's "Live Evil", although certainly this "Speak of the Devil" was released a month before that.
Recorded in the tour of his album "Diary of a Madman", no song belonging to this album was included and if instead a repertoire loaded with versions of Black Sabbath (hence the fact that it was published in revenge directly to his ex- band).
A tour that should have been with Randy Rhoads as guitarist, but his death a few months earlier, would lead Brad Gillis to take over as the new guitarist for Ozzy's band.
A Brad Gillis who did an incredible job putting himself at the height of Tony Iommi in the classics "Children Of The Revolution", "Symptom Of The Universe", "Iron Man", "The Wizard" or the brilliant "Black Sabbath".
All with an Ozzy in outstanding form and a devastating rhythm section composed by Rudy Sarzo and Tommy Aldridge.

Angel-"Live Without A Net" (1980)

Formed in the mid-70s in Washington, Angel are one of the most unknown bands among the general public but that nevertheless is considered by the critics as the first band that made AOR in the world.
They never had the luck or the recognition that other contemporary bands such as Boston, Journey, Kansas or Foreigner enjoyed, but in their career they have left some memorable albums such as the direct "Live Without A Net" published in 1980, which is one of the AOR anthological works.
With influences that range from the progressive rock of the 70s, to groups like Kiss, with a fresh, contagious, fun sound and above all commercially focused on the general public.
This direct contains superb songs like "Don't Leave Me Lonely", "Over And Over" or "Anyway You Want It", making this work a faithful and perfect reflection of what high quality AOR is.

Journey-"Raised on Radio" (1986)

Considered by many to be a Steve Perry solo project "Raised On Radio" was Journey's ninth album, which by the time it was released had been reduced to a power trio by the abandonment of Steve Smith and Ross Valory.
Produced by Steve Perry himself with Jim Gaines, the band had to hire session musicians to record this album, including bassists Randy Jackson and Bob Glaub and drummers Larrie Londin and Mike Baird.
An album that contains a more heterogeneous repertoire, where elements close to funk are applied, with saxophones and harmonicas, instruments that Perry himself had introduced on his album "Street Talk" two years earlier.
Even so, Perry records his masterful voice on "Girl Can't Help It", as well as songs like "Suzanne", "Be Good To Yourself", or "Why Can't This Night", demonstrate the instrumental talent of Neal Schon and Jonathan Cain.

Judas Priest-"Stained Class" (1978)

One year after their impeccable "Sin After Sin", Judas Priest is releasing another superb work that at the same time is one of their darkest albums, with a theme ranging from science fiction to the occult.
It was also the album of the controversy years later, when the band was legally accused and involved in a trial accused of indirectly inciting suicide to two of their fans while listening to the songs "Exciter" and "Better By You, Better Than Me".
Far from it all "Stained Class" is an album with a lot of punch, where the fierce guitars and the powerful rhythmic section are at great height as demonstrated in the visceral "Saints In hell" or "Stained Class", or in hymns of classic heavy metal like "White Heat, Red Hot", "Savage" or the mentioned "Better By You, Better Than Me".